This document provides instructions for Acrobat XI. If you're using Acrobat DC, see Acrobat DC Help.

Font embedding and substitution

A font can be embedded only if it contains
a setting by the font vendor that permits it to be embedded. Embedding
prevents font substitution when readers view or print the file,
and ensures that readers see the text in its original font. Embedding
increases file size only slightly, unless the document uses CID
fonts. a font format commonly used for Asian languages. You can
embed or substitute fonts in Acrobat or when you export an InDesign
document to PDF.

You can embed the entire font, or just a subset of the characters
used in the file. Subsetting ensures that your fonts and font metrics
are used at print time by creating a custom font name. That way,
for example, your version of Adobe Garamond®,
not your service provider’s version, can always be used by the service
provider for viewing and printing. Type 1 and TrueType fonts can
be embedded if they are included in the PostScript file, or are
available in one of the font locations that Distiller monitors and
are not restricted from embedding.

When a font cannot be embedded because of the font vendor’s settings,
and someone who opens or prints a PDF does not have access to the
original font, a Multiple Master typeface
is temporarily substituted: AdobeSerifMM for a missing serif font,
and AdobeSansMM for a missing sans serif font.

The Multiple Master typeface can stretch
or condense to fit, to ensure that line and page breaks in the original
document are maintained. The substitution cannot always match the
shape of the original characters, however, especially if the characters
are unconventional ones, such as script typefaces.

Embed fonts in the Adobe PDF conversion settings

For Asian text, Acrobat uses fonts from the installed Asian
language kit or from similar fonts on the user’s system. Fonts from
some languages or with unknown encodings cannot be substituted;
in these cases, the text appears as bullets in the file.

If characters are unconventional (left), the substitution
font will not match (right).

Note:

If you have difficulty copying and pasting text
from a PDF, first check if the problem font is embedded (File >
Properties > Font tab). For an embedded font, try changing the
point where the font is embedded, rather than sending it inside
the PostScript file. Distill the PDF without embedding that font.
Then open the PDF in Acrobat and embed the font using the Preflight
fixup.

Accessing and embedding fonts using
Distiller

When converting a PostScript file to
PDF, Distiller needs access to the file’s fonts to insert the appropriate
information in the PDF. Distiller first searches the PostScript
file for Type 1, TrueType, and OpenType fonts. If the font isn’t embedded
in the PostScript file, Distiller searches additional font folders.
Distiller searches the following font folders in Windows:

/Resource/Font in the Acrobat folder

/Program Files/Common Files/Adobe/Fonts

Distiller searches the following font folders in Mac OS:

/Resource/Font in the Acrobat folder

/Users/[user name]/Library/Fonts

/Library/Fonts

/System/Library/Fonts

The Acrobat installation includes width-only versions of many common Chinese, Japanese, and Korean fonts, therefore Distiller can then access these fonts in Acrobat. Make sure that the fonts are available on your computer. (In Windows, choose Complete when you install Acrobat, or choose Custom and select the Asian Language Support option under the View Adobe PDF category. In Mac OS, these fonts are installed automatically.)

For information on including fonts in a PostScript file, see the documentation that came with the application and printer driver you use to create PostScript files.

Note:

Distiller does not support Type 32 fonts.

To specify other font folders for Distiller to search, in Acrobat Distiller, choose Settings > Font Locations. Then in the dialog box, click Add to add a font folder. Select Ignore TrueType Versions Of Standard PostScript Fonts to exclude TrueType fonts that have the same name as a font in the PostScript 3 font collection.

Note:

To provide Distiller with access to a font folder that has been moved, use this dialog box to remove the folder listed in its old location and add it in its new location.

Preview PDFs without local fonts

You can create a printable preview
of your document that substitutes default fonts for any text formatted
in fonts that are available on your local computer but are not embedded
in the PDF. This preview can help you decide whether to embed those
local fonts in the PDF, to achieve the look you want for your document.

In the Preferences dialog box under Categories,
select Page Display, and then deselect Use
Local Fonts.

Note:

If a font cannot be substituted, the text appears as
bullets, and Acrobat displays an error message.

Find PostScript font names

If
you need to enter a font name manually on the Fonts panel of the Adobe
PDF Settings dialog box, you can use a PDF to find the
exact spelling of the name.

Use any application to create a one-page document
with the font.

Create a PDF from the document.

Open the PDF in Acrobat, and choose File >
Properties > Fonts.

Write down the name of the font, using the exact spelling,
capitalization, and hyphenation of the name as it appears in the
Font Info dialog box.

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